Tripping Far Side

Today is a special day. We were treated to a really special restaurant in Kyoto's Gion district, near Hanami-koji (street) with the famous geisha teahouses.

The restaurant's name is only one Japanese hiragana character う, which is a vowel that sounds like "oo" as in "too". Not coincidentally, the specialty of this restaurant is unagi (うなぎ), or eel. You can see from the first picture's chopsticks that the character う is artfully shaped like an eel.

A bit hard to find, as it's nestled among the old but well-kept Gion alleys and stone streets. In fact, the restaurant is in a machiya (町屋) that Wikipedia describes as a "traditional wooden townhouse" (which are historically old). And it feels like stepping back into time as we slip off our shoes immediately inside--just like a Japanese home. The tables reserved for us are upstairs.

As you walk up them, you know you're in for an experience.

The townhome-now-restaurant is architecturally built for the Japanese summer seasons, when the weather can be deathly torrid. The room is simple and open, and easily ventilated by sliding the paper fusuma doors. Tatami mats and the vaulted ceiling offer more breathability so the heat can be less of a bother.

And to top it off, eel is the kind of meal served in the summer, so everything just blended so well together in the theme. All that was missing was the sound of crickets! (and thankfully, the hot and humid weather!)

They only serve eel here, but there's a variety beyond just the meat. The food is prepared in the style of Tokyo, which uses steam in the cooking process to tenderize an already soft meat. Can't remember all the dishes, but they're all presented beautifully with some part of the eel.

In the first picture on the left, I think, is eel liver. Then served purely without the sauce, then wrapped in egg, then in raw form, and finally the main dish in a special wooden cooking/serving bucket with unagi-soaked rice. I'm not describing it with justice, so the pictures will have to do. And it's better to leave it to your imagination.

I'll just say that it was really satisfying dinner! Gochisosama deshita!

Oh, and one more thing. The experience was made a bit more special when the waitress was asked how often foreigners visited. She said pretty much never. [grin]